She sucked on her lip, which was amazingly distracting. “And Ares?”
“Ares is already on your side. He just wears it like a tailored suit—no wrinkles.”
She laughed again. It came easier now. She leaned back into the chair, the curve of her body settling, a woman allowing herself to rest in a room designed to make people forget the wordcrisis.
I slid closer by an inch, then another, until my knee touched hers.
“Leo,” she said softly. “What are you doing?”
“Showing you what you already know.”
“You’re not driving me to the airport?”
“I’m not and never was.” I took her hand. “Because you haven’t touched a single thing in that suitcase the way a woman touches clothes she intends to wear. You tossed them in like you were throwing a tantrum for a version of yourself you don’t want to be anymore.”
She eyed me. “You were a psych minor?”
“And marketing major.” I squeezed her fingers. “Stay. We need you. We all do.”
She looked down at our hands. When she looked up, the decision was already there, but she made me wait for words. So I had to sit there, because as any salesman knows, speaking now would ditch the deal.
She exhaled and her eyes met mine. “I’ll stay,” she said. “On conditions.”
“Name them.”
“No more cold shoulders disguised as professionalism.” A beat. “From anyone.”
“That’s reasonable.”
Her eyes narrowed. “And you’ll all listen to the Heroes Scavenger Hunt proposal. No staring at phones.”
“Agreed,” I said easily. I’d say anything to keep her here.
“And one more thing,” she said, tipping her chin toward the table between us, now scattered with small destructions—crumbs, bitten fruit, and a smear of chocolate. “I’m not going to dance around you guys when it comes to me. Whatever you have to work out, do it among yourselves.”
Something hot and bright moved through my chest.
“Good,” I said. “I don’t want a secret. I want you.”
Her breath hitched exactly once. Then she stood.
For a second, I thought she was going for the suitcase. Instead, she came to my side of the table, caught my tie in her fist, and pulled me to my feet.
“Oh,” I said.
“Shut up, Leo.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You’re dangerous,” she said.
“So I’ve been told.”
“Not like that.” She shook her head. “You make it easy to say yes.”
“That’s because I’m offering yes to you, not for you.” I kissed her knuckles and went for confirmation of the sale. “You’ll stay?”
“I will.” She hesitated. “Don’t make me regret it.”
